Deep Throat Remains a Mystery

And now the most interesting two minutes in television, the latest from the political grapevine:

A Publishing Milestone?This, the 30th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, was to be the day when the Web magazine Salon.com would publish an e-book by Watergate figure John Dean that would reveal at last the true identity of the mysterious news source known as "deep throat." Dean's book, titled Unmasking Deep Throat does appear on Salon's Web site, but it doesn't unmask anybody. As Dean puts it in an interview on Salon, his long investigation found "all the clues pointed at one of my former colleagues, whom I had earlier considered only a remote possibility." But, he adds, "I turned out to be wrong." Instead, Dean lists four possible deep throat suspects, including then-Nixon aide Pat Buchanan and press secretary Ron Ziegler.

Is This the World Cup War?The U.S. embassy in Mexico City was closed today, surrounded by barricades and riot police after America beat Mexico 2 to nothing in World Cup soccer. A pregame headline in a Mexico City newspaper proclaimed This Is War, and the AP reported that at one Mexico City sports cafe, where 1000 people gathered to watch the game, the playing of the Star Spangled Banner was greeted with shouted obscenities. On a more subdued note, President Vicente Fox followed his usual practice of watching the game wearing a Mexican team jersey. He invited almost his entire Cabinet over to watch it with him, live, starting at 1:30 a.m.

Strong Statement, But...Amnesty International has issued a strong statement related to the murder of the Israeli Minister of Tourism last October. The statement condemns not the murder but the continuing imprisonment of Amad Sa'adat, the head of the Palestinian radical organization that has claimed responsibility for the murder. Sa'adat remains in jail in Jericho in keeping with an agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinians for the lifting of the siege of Yasser Arafat's Ramallah headquarters. A Palestinian court has ordered Sa'adat's release, but Arafat has so far refused, saying if he were released, the Israelis would kill him.

Still Allergic After All These MonthsThe Reuters news agency remains allergic to the word "terrorist." So much so that when a Reuters dispatch from Washington today spoke of "an FBI intelligence alert that 'terrorists' might try to shoot down an civilian American commercial aircraft," it put the word "terrorists" in quotes meaning, presumably, that while the FBI might consider people who blow up U.S. airliners terrorists, Reuters does not necessarily agree.

With more than 35 years of journalism experience to draw from, Brit Hume currently serves as a senior political analyst for FOX News Channel (FNC) and contributes to all major political coverage. Hume also is regular panelist on FOX's weekly public affairs program, "FOX News Sunday" on Sundays at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET. Click here for more information on Brit Hume.